You’ll learn how to apply MongoDB design patterns to several challenging domains, such as ecommerce, content management, and online gaming. Using Python and JavaScript code examples, you’ll discover how MongoDB lets you scale your data model while simplifying the development process.Many businesses launch NoSQL databases without understanding the techniques for using their features most effectively. This book demonstrates the benefits of document embedding, polymorphic schemas, and other MongoDB patterns for tackling specific big data use cases, including:Operational intelligence: Perform real-time analytics of business dataEcommerce: Use MongoDB as a product catalog master or inventory management systemContent management: Learn methods for storing content nodes, binary assets, and discussionsOnline advertising networks: Apply techniques for frequency capping ad impressions, and keyword targeting and biddingSocial networking: Learn how to store a complex social graph, modeled after Google+Online gaming: Provide concurrent access to character and world data for a multiplayer role-playing game

    5, 1948 sell for $140 million?            Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.            This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on  interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced  auction purchasers do not know.

    When you finally reach your destination, you’ll understand your journey.” 

Love is a fickle thing that can take your life on the least expected detours. Creed Mason was learning that the hard way. Married to a woman who refuses to forget his past, he was burning himself out trying to prove that he was a changed man. Until he meets a woman who offers him the help he needs with healing, in more ways than one. 

 Kamaria Jones is living what she feels is her best life. Happily divorced, working a job she loves, and the existence of a much appreciated friend-with-benefits to take care of her sexual needs. Love is the furthest thing from her mind. But when she meets a man that is determined to infiltrate her heart, she’s forced to decide if she’s ready to give love another try.

 Will Kamaria and Creed be able to handle the shifts in their atmospheres and give each other the love that they deserve?

    And now it’s available here as a complete collection edition. In this two-book series, you’ll take an unforgettable ride with the national bestselling author Cole Hart that brought you The Sunday School Teacher, Rich Thugs, Hood Romance themed novels and several Thug Love stories. His writing is very clever, gripping, and this story is unputdownable. **Warning** This is not your typical Urban romance, dope boy, thug love, or kingpin savage book. Heart pounding. Nail-biting. Gritty. Street Literature. Hood love. Aaliyah Pride has her hands full with pursuing her career and trying to figure out, what led to the sudden change in her man, Chris’ behavior. The last thing she needed was for the temptation to step in-leading her to question everything she thought she knew about life and love but that’s exactly what she got when she met Montae Wilson. Montae “Baby Boy” Wilson was blessed from birth with handsome looks, irresistible charm and a passion for hard work. He’s a man that can adjust to his surroundings and go from classic to hood in zero to sixty seconds without blinking an eye. From the moment he saw Aaliyah he knew there was something special about her. Something that went far beyond her almond-shaped eyes, pouty lips, feisty attitude and inviting curves. Briana Henson's world was flipped upside down, when her father, one of Atlanta’s biggest Kingpins, was sentenced to a thirty-year sentence in federal prison. A product of her environment, the only thing Briana knew was partying in the A-Town nightlife and spending money. Now that 'broke' is her lifestyle, she’s desperate to find a come up and eager to use her assets to seal the deal. When she meets Montae, money is the last thing on her mind and she quickly finds herself caught up in her emotions and feeling him on an unfamiliar level. Before long, Briana is left asking herself if a woman of her stature could really love a man that's working a nine to five at Walmart. As the lives of these three collide, hearts will be broken, bonds will be damaged and an unknown enemy will submerge. Discover what can happen when chance run-ins and nights of passion lead to intimate deceptions and see just how far some admirers will go when they’re low key feeling you.

    

    Whether you've watched "Casablanca" countless times or you're going to see it for the first time, "The Casablanca Companion" will both deepen your understanding and heighten your enjoyment.

    A loosely formed autobiography by Andy Warhol, told with his trademark blend of irony and detachmentIn The Philosophy of Andy Warhol—which, with the subtitle "(From A to B and Back Again)," is less a memoir than a collection of riffs and reflections—he talks about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, and success; about New York, America, and his childhood in McKeesport, Pennsylvania; about his good times and bad in New York, the explosion of his career in the sixties, and his life among celebrities.

    From Marcel Duchamp's notorious Fountain and the scribbles of Cy Twombly to Mark Rothko's multiforms and Carl Andre's uncarved blocks, Hodge addresses critical outrage with a revealing insight into the technical skill, layering of ideas, and sheer inspiration behind each work. In cleverly organized chapters such as Objects/ Toys, Provocations/Tantrums and People/Monsters, Hodges thoughtfully and definitively lays bare the perception that modern art is mere child's play.

    I knew what it meant, and was ready for what I’d be expected to do. But nothing could have prepared me for him. He is as powerful as the stallions locked in his stables. His heart is as distant as a falcon flying over the horizon, searching for prey. He lives in a palace and wears royal robes, but make no mistake. This man is not a desert prince, but a beast. That’s fine. I am not the innocent beauty I appear to be. I am a hunter. He owns the sand I walk on and the water I drink, but he will never own me. He may claim my body, but I will tame his heart.

    But he has a secret... Bridget Delaney has had a year of failures. With a defunct business and a five-year relationship gone stale, the last thing she expected was for another man to catch her eye. Especially someone like Jason. He’s arrogant, insanely handsome, and he’s her new boss. Despite her greatest efforts, she can’t stop thinking about him. What’s worse, she doesn’t want to. When she’s with him, she feels alive in ways she never thought possible. But after she finds out about his troubled past, she realizes that looks can be deceiving and the heart can tell the greatest lie of all. When the chips are down, will she be able to look beyond the sins of his past or will it be her undoing? The Dilemma - Book 2 Lies, betrayal and an obsession gone too far. When it comes to love, anything goes. Jason’s back, and this time he's not taking no for an answer. With Blake in the picture, Bridget is more confused than ever. Both are prepared to give her everything her heart desires. But with her head and heart at odds, will she wind up making a decision she'll regret for the rest of her life? Please be advised: This series is intended for mature audiences. It contains violence, graphic scenes and explicit language. If you enjoy dark romances, you'll love The Philistine Heart saga.

    Begin anew the books that has readers raving for more fantasy,adventure, fun, and romance!Sworn To Vengeance Ciardis Weathervane is nothing if not resourceful butshe and her friends are running out of time and options. They have come acrossa walled city with thousands of hungry souls who demand a price: the princeheir. As Ciardis fights to save him she realizes just what it means when anempire decides its people are a sacrifice worth making.Sworn To Sovereignty Chaos reigns as Ciardis Weathervane returns toSandrin. There's a revolution fomenting and its leadership wants the emperor'shead. Will Ciardis work with or against them as the gods descend down from theheavens to destroy everything she holds dear.Sworn To War Ciardis Weathervane is facing a war on two fronts. WithThanar trapped in purgatory, its up to Ciardis and Sebastian to buy them timebefore they must battle a god bent on living forever.You'll never find a set of books more exhilarating than the Courtlight series,its time for your next fix in the fantasy world that has readers riveted!

    Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.

    This book offers concrete examples and exercises in the dynamic and versatile Python language to demonstrate and reinforce these concepts. Learn the basic tools to start writing the programs that interest you, and get a better understanding of what software can (and cannot) do. When you're finished, you'll have the necessary foundation to learn any programming language or tackle any software project you choose. With a focus on programming concepts, this book teaches you how to:Understand the core features of all programming languages, including: variables, statements, decisions, loops, expressions, and operatorsReuse code with functionsUse library code to save time and effortSelect the best data structure to manage complex dataWrite programs that talk to the WebShare your data with other programsWrite programs that test themselves and help you avoid embarrassing coding errors.Contents Intro xxiii1 Starting to Code: Finding Your Way2 Textual Data: Every String Has Its Place3 Functions: Let’s Get Organized4 Data Files and Arrays: Sort It Out5 Hashes and Databases: Putting Data in Its Place6 Modular Programming: Keeping Things Straight7 Building a Graphical User Interface: Going All Gooey8 GUIs and Data: Data Entry Widgets8 1/2 Exceptions and Message Boxes: Get the Message? 9 Graphical Interface Elements: Selecting the Right Tool10 Custom Widgets and Classes: With an Object in MindAppendix i Leftovers: The Top Ten Things (We Didn’t Cover)

    Savvy Java developers know that not all testing is created equal. In addition to traditional functional testing, many shops are adopting developer testing techniques such as unit testing. Specific, automated tests are created to verify the accuracy and function of code while or even before it's written - to catch bugs early.Unit Testing in Java teaches how to write good tests that are concise and to the point, useful, and maintainable. This book focuses on tools and practices specific to Java. It introduces emerging techniques like specification by example and behavior-driven development, and shows how to add robust practices into developers' toolkits.Table of ContentsI. FOUNDATIONS1. The promise of good tests2. In search of good3. Test doublesII. CATALOG4. Readability5. Maintainability6. TrustworthinessIII. DIVERSIONS7. Testable design8. Writing tests in other JVM languages9. Speeding up test executionsAppendix A: JUnit primerAppendix B: Extending JUnitIndex

    After an all-American boyhood in Kansas City, a stint flying bombers in World War II, and jobs ranging from dog tattoo entrepreneur to television director, Robert Altman burst onto the scene in 1970 with M*A*S*H. He reinvented American filmmaking, and went on to produce such masterpieces as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. In Robert Altman, Mitchell Zuckoff has woven together Altman's final interviews; an incredible cast of voices including Meryl Streep, Warren Beatty, Paul Newman, among scores of others; and contemporary reviews and news accounts into a riveting tale of an extraordinary life.